Hot Off the Press

Drug-Free Work Week, October 19-25, Promotes a Safe and Healthy Environment for All

Thursday, October 15, 2009

According to the U.S. Dept. of Labor (DOL), 6.5 percent of full-time workers at manufacturing companies use illicit drugs and 9.5 percent abuse alcohol; workers that use and abuse these substances have higher rates of turnover and absenteeism; and, smaller firms (with less than 500 employees) are more susceptible to pay the consequences, as 90 percent of these companies currently employ drug users and heavy drinkers, while at the same time are less likely to test for substance use than are larger companies.
Everything you need to know about building a drug-free workforce is available at the Drug-Free Work Week website (www.dol.gov/workingpartners/welcome.html) of the DOL--statistics, resources, frequently-asked questions, help-line access, state laws and additional information about drug and alcohol use in the workplace. Take some time to review it and use the information there to establish relevant policies for your company, educate workers about the dangers of alcohol and drug use, deter and detect use and urge people seek the help that they need.

Steel Import Permits Increase 26 Percent--Highest Total Since March

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reports that steel-import permit applications for the month of September totaled 1.25 million net tons (NT). This represents a 26-percent increase from the 997,000 permit tons recorded in August 2009 and a 47-percent increase from the August preliminary imports total of 855,000 NT. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in September was 1.02 million NT, an increase of 30 percent from the preliminary imports total of 786,000 NT in August.
In September 2009, the largest finished-steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for Korea (64,000 NT, down 24 percent from August), The Netherlands (51,000 NT, up 89 percent), Japan (45,000 NT, up 63 percent) and China (44,000 NT, up 45 percent). Finished-steel import market share in September is estimated at 16 percent and at 23 percent year-to-date.
Finished-steel import permits for products that registered increases in September compared to August preliminary include cut-to-length plates (79 percent), hot-dipped galvanized sheets (49 percent) and hot-rolled sheets (34 percent).